Mekong dolphins on brink of extinction
Pollution in the Mekong River has pushed a local population of Irrawaddy dolphins to the brink of extinction, the World Wildlife Fund warns in a new report.
The 190-kilometer stretch of river between Cambodia and Laos has suffered 88 deaths since 2003 and conservationists fear there could be as few as 64 Irrawaddy left in the river.
Sixty percent of the deaths were newly-born calves killed by a bacterial disease, Verne Dove, a vet for WWF Cambodia, said. But Dove said the dolphins’ immune systems had been suppressed by toxic levels of pesticides and environmental contaminants in the water.
The same pollutants could also pose a threat to fish and human populations in the area.
“These pollutants are widely distributed in the environment and so the source of this pollution may involve several countries through which the Mekong River flows. WWF Cambodia is currently investigating the sourceof the environmental contaminants,” Dove said.
High levels of mercury found in some of the dead dolphins may have been caused by gold mining activities in the area.
“A trans-boundary preventative health programme is urgently needed to manage the disease affected animals in order to reduce the number of deaths each year,” said Seng Teak, Country Director of WWF Cambodia.
Limited genetic diversity due to inbreeding was another factor in the dolphin deaths and Taek said the river mammals needed help if the community is to survive.
The Irrawaddy dolphin has been on the critically endangered list since 2004.
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